CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST – SHORT-TERM CONSULTANCY TO CONDUCT A MID-TERM REVIEW OF THE KECOSCE STRATEGIC PLAN 2024–2028

Type of Assignment	Short-term consultancy
Consultancy purpose	Mid-Term Review of the KECOSCE Strategic Plan 2024–2028
Deadline for submission	Tuesday, 20 October 2026, at 10:00 a.m. East Africa Time (EAT)
Applications to be sent to	[email protected]
Duration	20 working days, spread over approximately one month
Start date	Upon signing of the consultancy contract

1. About KECOSCE

Kenya Community Support Centre (KECOSCE) is a Kenyan Public Benefit Organization established in 2006, committed to promoting a just, secure and progressive society through inclusive governance, peacebuilding, human rights, poverty reduction, climate resilience, health, water and sanitation, and institutional development.

KECOSCE operates across Kenya, with a strong programme presence in the Coast and North Eastern regions, working with communities, government institutions, civil society organizations, development partners and other stakeholders to advance sustainable development and social transformation.

KECOSCE is implementing its 2024–2028 Strategic Plan, which provides the institutional framework for programme delivery, organizational development, resource mobilization, financial sustainability and partnership engagement. The Plan envisages strengthened institutional capacity, diversified resource mobilization, alternative funding mechanisms and income-generating initiatives to enhance organizational resilience and reduce dependence on restricted donor funding.

As the organization enters the second half of the strategy period, KECOSCE seeks to engage a qualified consultant to undertake an independent Mid-Term Review (MTR) to assess progress, identify implementation gaps, examine institutional and financial performance, and recommend practical adjustments to strengthen delivery during 2027–2028.

2. Background and Rationale

The KECOSCE Strategic Plan 2024–2028 articulates the organization’s strategic direction, intended results, institutional priorities and resource requirements over a five-year period.

The strategy is organized around five strategic outcome areas:

Inclusive Governance and Service Delivery.
Poverty Alleviation and Climate Resilience.
Peaceful and Cohesive Societies.
Health, Water and Sanitation.
Organizational Efficiency and Sustainability.

The Strategic Plan also provides for institutional strengthening, resource mobilization, financial sustainability, partnerships and the development of own-source income initiatives, including the exploration of social enterprise and other value chain opportunities.

The Mid-Term Review will establish the extent to which the strategy remains relevant, achievable and responsive to KECOSCE’s operating environment and institutional capacities. It will assess the relationship between strategic ambitions, programme implementation, available financial resources, organizational systems and actual performance.

The review is intended to provide an objective evidence base for the Board and Management to assess progress, make informed decisions, address implementation constraints and optimize the use of available resources during the remaining strategy period.

The assignment is limited to reviewing the existing 2024–2028 Strategic Plan. It does not include developing a successor strategic plan. Its forward-looking component will focus on practical, prioritized recommendations for strengthening implementation through December 2028.

3. Purpose of the Assignment

The overall purpose of the consultancy is to undertake an independent, evidence-based Mid-Term Review of the KECOSCE Strategic Plan 2024–2028, assess implementation performance and institutional sustainability, and recommend practical strategic adjustments to guide the organization during 2027–2028. The review will serve as a management and governance decision-making tool, supporting the Board and Management to prioritize interventions, align resources with institutional ambitions, strengthen organizational effectiveness and improve the delivery of sustainable results.

Specifically, the review should establish:

What has been achieved against the Strategic Plan’s objectives, indicators and targets?
What has not been achieved, and what factors explain the performance gaps?
How effectively have financial, human and institutional resources supported implementation?
To what extent have the strategic interventions contributed to intended results?
Which strategic priorities require acceleration, adjustment, consolidation or reprioritization?
What practical measures should KECOSCE undertake during 2027–2028 to strengthen results and sustainability?

4. Specific Objectives

The consultant shall:

Assess progress against the Strategic Plan’s objectives, outcomes, indicators, targets and implementation commitments.
Examine the relevance, coherence and continued suitability of the strategy, including its alignment with Kenya Vision 2030, relevant County Integrated Development Plans and the Sustainable Development Goals, in light of changes in KECOSCE’s operating environment, development priorities, institutional capacity and funding landscape.
Assess programme performance, implementation effectiveness, results achievement and alignment with organizational priorities.
Review the effectiveness of governance, leadership, human resource management, operational systems, accountability, monitoring, evaluation and learning arrangements in supporting strategic delivery.
Assess financial performance, resource mobilization, funding diversification, budget execution and the alignment between available resources and strategic commitments.
Examine the feasibility and performance of the Strategic Plan’s financial sustainability and own-source income approaches, including relevant social enterprise initiatives.
Identify implementation bottlenecks, institutional risks, emerging opportunities and areas requiring management or Board intervention.
Assess how gender equality, disability inclusion, human rights, conflict sensitivity and environmental sustainability have been integrated into implementation, in line with the principle of leaving no one behind.
Develop practical, cost-conscious recommendations and a prioritized implementation framework for the remaining 2027–2028 period.
To evaluate the performance, relevance, and sustainability of KECOSCE’s flagship products specifically the Early Warning Early Response (EWER) mechanism, Kradio, Kgrants, and institutional toolkits to generate actionable learning and strategic insights.

5. Scope of Work

The consultant will undertake the following areas of review.

5.1 Strategic Performance and Results

Review the five strategic outcome areas and assess progress against planned objectives, outputs, indicators and targets.
Assess performance against the Strategic Plan’s baselines, milestones and intended results, where established.
Examine the extent to which planned interventions have translated into measurable results and organizational impact.
Assess the consistency between strategic priorities, annual work plans, programme designs, budgets and implementation reports.
Identify achievements, implementation gaps, underperforming areas and emerging results.
Examine the factors influencing performance, including internal capacity, funding availability, external developments and implementation arrangements.
Assess whether the strategic objectives and targets remain realistic and achievable within the remaining implementation period.
Evaluate KECOSCE’s core flagship products, including the Early Warning Early Response (EWER) mechanism, Kradio, Kgrants, and institutional toolkits, to examine their performance, contextual relevance, operational effectiveness, and long-term sustainability.

5.2 Programme Relevance and Effectiveness

Examine the relevance of KECOSCE’s programme portfolio to community needs, institutional mandate and emerging development priorities.
Assess the effectiveness of programme delivery approaches, partnerships and stakeholder engagement.
Review the extent to which programme interventions are integrated and mutually reinforcing across the strategic outcome areas.
Review the use of evidence, monitoring, evaluation and learning in programme adaptation and decision-making.
Identify opportunities to improve programme efficiency, sustainability, institutional visibility and results.
Assess how effectively products like Kradio and toolkits amplify advocacy, community engagement, and message reach across KECOSCE’s strategic themes.
Evaluate if data generated by the EWER mechanism feeds into content on Kradio, informs design for Kgrants, or gets packaged into reusable policy and operational toolkits.

5.3 Institutional Capacity and Organizational Performance

Review the adequacy and effectiveness of:

Governance and Board oversight.
Leadership and management arrangements.
Organizational structure and staffing capacity.
Human resource planning and performance management.
Financial management, procurement and internal controls.
Risk management, safeguarding, accountability and compliance systems.
Monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning arrangements.
Institutional visibility, communication, partnerships and knowledge management.

The assessment should establish how these institutional functions have enabled or constrained implementation of the Strategic Plan and identify priority organizational improvements for 2027–2028.

5.4 Financial Performance and Resource Mobilization

The review shall examine:

Performance against the Strategic Plan’s financial projections and resource mobilization targets.
Trends in income, expenditure, funding sources and funding concentration.
Variances between planned and actual income and expenditure, including the underlying reasons.
The adequacy of unrestricted funding and flexible resources to support core operations and programme delivery.
Budget absorption and alignment between expenditure and strategic priorities.
The effectiveness of donor engagement, partnership development and proposal development.
Progress in diversifying income beyond restricted donor funding (own-source income initiatives are assessed in detail under Section 5.5).
The sustainability implications of the existing financing model.

The consultant shall identify practical options for strengthening financial resilience, reducing funding vulnerability and improving the alignment of financial resources with strategic priorities.

5.5 Financial Sustainability and Own-Source Income

The consultant shall specifically assess the Strategic Plan’s proposed approaches to financial sustainability, including:

The feasibility of own-source income generation and its intended contribution to organizational sustainability.
Progress, opportunities and constraints relating to Aloe commercialization and associated value chain opportunities, where applicable.
The institutional, financial and operational requirements for viable income-generating initiatives.
The extent to which such initiatives can complement, rather than distract from, KECOSCE’s core mandate and programme delivery.
The potential contribution of own-source income to operational costs, institutional resilience and service delivery.
Review whether products like Kradio, specialized toolkits, or sub-granting frameworks (Kgrants) have potential for cost-recovery, sponsorship, fee-for-service models, or social enterprise applications to support non-donor revenue.

Recommendations should be realistic, risk-informed and proportionate to KECOSCE’s available resources and management capacity.

5.6 Strategic Adaptation and Implementation Priorities

Based on the findings, the consultant shall recommend which existing strategic priorities should be:

Continued: Priorities that remain relevant and achievable.
Accelerated: Priorities requiring increased attention or implementation effort.
Adjusted: Priorities requiring changes in approach, targets, sequencing or resource allocation.
Consolidated: Activities or interventions that can be integrated to improve efficiency and results.
Reprioritized: Activities requiring reconsideration in light of available resources, performance and institutional capacity.

The recommendations must remain within the approved 2024–2028 Strategic Plan framework and focus on strengthening implementation through December 2028.

5.7 Cross-Cutting Issues

The review shall assess how the Strategic Plan and its implementation have addressed the following cross-cutting issues, and how they can be strengthened during 2027–2028:

Gender equality and women’s empowerment, including the participation of women and girls in programme design, delivery and decision-making.
Disability inclusion and the participation of youth, older persons, minority communities and other marginalized groups.
Human rights-based approaches, accountability to affected communities and community feedback mechanisms including conflict sensitivity and “do no harm”, Climate and environmental sustainability of programme interventions.
Safeguarding, including protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (PSEAH) and child protection.
Assess how Kradio broadcasts and local toolkits cater to marginalized populations (youth, women, persons with disabilities, non-English speakers) and whether EWER acts as an equitable, conflict-sensitive feedback loop.

Findings should be disaggregated by sex, age, disability and location wherever data allow.

6. Review Methodology

The consultant shall propose a robust, participatory and mixed-methods approach, incorporating:

Desk Review: Examination of the Strategic Plan, annual work plans, budgets, financial statements, programme reports, monitoring data, organizational policies and other relevant institutional documents.
Key Informant Interviews: Engagement with Board members, Management, staff, selected donors, partners, government stakeholders and other relevant actors.
Stakeholder Consultations: Focus group discussions or other consultations with relevant stakeholders, where appropriate.
Performance and Financial Analysis: Quantitative assessment of strategic performance, financial trends, income and expenditure, and results against targets.
Institutional and Gap Analysis: Assessment of institutional capacity, implementation constraints, risks and opportunities.
Validation: Presentation and discussion of preliminary findings with KECOSCE Management and designated stakeholders.

Evaluation framework. The review shall be guided by the following criteria relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and, where evidence allows, early indications of impact adapted to the review of an organizational strategy.

Where the Strategic Plan’s results framework or theory of change is incomplete, the consultant shall reconstruct the underlying logic with KECOSCE staff and use contribution analysis to assess KECOSCE’s contribution to observed results. The inception report shall also set out the sampling approach for sites and respondents, and the anticipated limitations of the review with mitigation measures.

The methodology should ensure triangulation of evidence, stakeholder participation, confidentiality, independence of judgement and practical recommendations.

Ethical standards. The consultant shall obtain informed consent from all participants, protect the anonymity and confidentiality of informants, apply a “do no harm” approach, take particular care when engaging children, survivors of violence and other vulnerable persons, and handle personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 2019. Any safeguarding concern identified during the review shall be reported immediately to KECOSCE’s designated safeguarding focal point.

The consultant should clearly indicate how the proposed methodology will be delivered within the 20-working-day assignment period.

7. Expected Deliverables

The consultant shall submit the following deliverables:

Deliverable	Description	Indicative Timeline
Inception Report	Detailed methodology, review matrix, stakeholder engagement plan, data collection tools and work schedule, for KECOSCE approval before data collection begins	Days 1–3
Preliminary Findings Presentation	Emerging findings, strategic performance analysis, key gaps and areas requiring management attention	Days 12–14
Draft Mid-Term Review Report	Comprehensive analysis of strategic performance, institutional effectiveness, financial sustainability, implementation gaps and recommendations	Days 15–17
Validation Session	Presentation and discussion of findings and recommendations with KECOSCE Management and designated stakeholders	Day 18
Final Mid-Term Review Report	Final report incorporating validated feedback, conclusions and prioritized recommendations	Days 19–20
2027–2028 Strategic Implementation Matrix	Practical matrix identifying priority actions, responsible actors, timelines, indicators and indicative resource implications for the remaining strategy period	With final report
Financial Sustainability and Resource Mobilization Recommendations	Action-oriented recommendations to strengthen income diversification, funding resilience, resource allocation and own-source income initiatives	With final report

All deliverables shall be submitted electronically in editable Word and Excel formats, with a PDF version of the final report.

Day counts refer to the consultant’s working days. KECOSCE review and feedback periods, normally up to five working days each for the inception report and the draft report, are additional. The consultant shall address comments on the draft report through a comments-response matrix showing how each comment has been addressed or, if not, why.

8. Expected Structure of the Final Report

The final report should include:

Executive Summary.
Introduction and Background.
Review Purpose, Objectives and Scope.
Methodology, Ethical Considerations and Limitations.
Strategic Performance Assessment.
Programme Relevance and Effectiveness.
Institutional Capacity and Organizational Performance.
Financial Performance and Resource Mobilization Analysis.
Financial Sustainability and Own-Source Income Assessment.
Cross-Cutting Issues: Gender, Inclusion, Human Rights, Conflict Sensitivity and Environment.
Key Findings and Implementation Gaps.
Strategic Risks and Emerging Opportunities.
Conclusions and Prioritized Recommendations.
2027–2028 Strategic Implementation Matrix.
Financial Sustainability and Resource Mobilization Recommendations.
Annexes, including these terms of reference, the evaluation matrix, data collection tools, documents reviewed, stakeholders consulted (anonymized where appropriate) and supporting analysis.

The main report should not exceed 40 pages, excluding annexes, and the executive summary should not exceed four pages and be able to stand alone. Recommendations shall flow clearly from the findings and conclusions, be prioritized and time-bound, and be addressed to a specific responsible party (Board, Management or programme unit), so that KECOSCE can prepare a formal management response.

9. Duration, Management and Reporting Arrangements

The assignment shall be completed within 20 working days, spread over approximately one month, from the agreed commencement date.

The consultant will report to the Executive Director of KECOSCE or a designated representative and work closely with the Management team and relevant staff.
KECOSCE will facilitate access to relevant institutional documents, programme information and designated stakeholders, subject to applicable confidentiality and data protection requirements.
A Review Reference Group, comprising representatives of the Board, Management, programmes, finance and monitoring and evaluation, will provide technical guidance, review deliverables and quality-assure the process. KECOSCE will consolidate its comments on each deliverable into a single response.
The consultant shall maintain professional independence, confidentiality and objectivity throughout the assignment.
All data, reports and other materials produced under this assignment shall remain the property of KECOSCE and shall not be shared, published or used for any other purpose without KECOSCE’s written consent.
The consultant shall comply with the Data Protection Act, 2019, sign and observe KECOSCE’s safeguarding policy and code of conduct, including on PSEAH, and declare any actual or potential conflict of interest, including any previous involvement in developing the Strategic Plan, before contracting.
Payment will be made in instalments on KECOSCE’s approval of deliverables: 30% on approval of the inception report, 30% on submission of an acceptable draft report, and 40% on approval of the final report and implementation matrix.
KECOSCE will prepare a management response to the final recommendations, setting out agreed actions, responsibilities and timelines.

10. Consultant Qualifications and Experience

The assignment is open to an individual consultant or a consultancy team meeting the following requirements.

Essential Qualifications

A Master’s degree in Strategic Management, Development Studies, Organizational Development, Public Policy, Economics, Monitoring and Evaluation or a related discipline.
At least five years of demonstrated experience in strategic planning, organizational performance assessment, institutional reviews or programme evaluations.
Proven experience conducting mid-term reviews or strategic performance assessments for NGOs, PBOs, development organizations or similar institutions.
Demonstrated competence in financial analysis, resource mobilization, organizational sustainability and results-based management.
Strong analytical, report-writing, facilitation and stakeholder engagement skills.
Sound knowledge of evaluation standards and practice, including the OECD-DAC evaluation criteria, results-based management and mixed-methods approaches.
Demonstrated experience integrating gender equality, inclusion and human rights into evaluations.
Excellent written and spoken English.
Knowledge of the Kenyan civil society and development sector.

Desirable Experience

Experience supporting organizations implementing multi-year strategic plans.
Understanding of donor-funded programme management and institutional financing models.
Experience assessing social enterprise, income diversification or organizational sustainability initiatives.
Familiarity with governance, accountability, safeguarding and regulatory compliance in the civil society sector.
Working knowledge of Kiswahili and/or Somali to support community-level consultations.
Experience of conflict-sensitive programming or evaluation in the Coast or North Eastern regions of Kenya.

11. Application Requirements

Interested consultants should submit the following:

A. Technical Proposal

The technical proposal, not exceeding five pages, should include:

Understanding of the assignment and proposed approach.
Proposed methodology and review framework.
Approach to ethics, safeguarding, data protection and inclusion.
Work plan demonstrating completion within 20 working days.
Relevant experience and examples of similar assignments.
Proposed team composition, where applicable.

B. Financial Proposal

An itemized financial proposal, submitted as a separate PDF attachment, indicating:

Professional fees, showing the daily rate and number of working days for each team member.
Fieldwork and stakeholder consultation costs.
Travel and logistical costs, where applicable.
Any other anticipated assignment-related expenses.
Total proposed consultancy cost in Kenya Shillings (KES), inclusive of all applicable taxes. KECOSCE will deduct withholding tax in accordance with Kenyan law.

C. Supporting Documents

Updated CV(s) of the consultant or proposed team.
Copies of relevant academic and professional qualifications.
At least two professional referees, with contact details, from organizations for which similar assignments were completed.
Relevant samples of previous strategic reviews or evaluation reports, where available.
A signed declaration of any actual or potential conflict of interest, including any previous engagement with KECOSCE.
For Kenyan applicants, a valid KRA PIN certificate and Tax Compliance Certificate, and, for firms, a certificate of registration or incorporation.

12. Evaluation Criteria and Selection Method

Applications will be evaluated using the following criteria:

Evaluation Criteria	Weight
Understanding of the assignment and quality of proposed methodology	30%
Qualifications and relevant professional experience	25%
Experience in similar strategic reviews and institutional assessments	20%
Feasibility of the proposed work plan and delivery approach	10%
Financial proposal and value for money	15%
Total	100%

Selection will follow a combined quality- and cost-based method. Only applicants whose technical proposals score at least 60 of the 85 technical points (about 70%) will have their financial proposals evaluated. The lowest-priced qualifying financial proposal will receive the full 15 points, and others will be scored proportionally (lowest price ÷ proposal price × 15). The contract will be offered to the applicant with the highest combined score, subject to satisfactory reference checks and contract negotiation.

KECOSCE reserves the right to seek clarification from applicants, conduct interviews and verify references as part of the selection process.

KECOSCE is not bound to accept the lowest or any proposal, and applicants bear all costs of preparing their applications. KECOSCE has zero tolerance for fraud, corruption, collusion and coercion: any attempt to influence the selection process will lead to disqualification, and KECOSCE may carry out due diligence, including sanctions screening, on the selected consultant.

13. Submission of Applications

Interested and qualified consultants are invited to submit their applications electronically to:

Email: [email protected]

Subject: EXPRESSION OF INTEREST – CONSULTANCY FOR MID-TERM REVIEW OF KECOSCE STRATEGIC PLAN 2024–2028

The technical proposal, financial proposal and supporting documents should be sent as separate PDF attachments in a single email. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Deadline: Tuesday, 20 October 2026, at 10:00 a.m. East Africa Time (EAT).

Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

For clarification, interested applicants may write to [email protected] no later than Tuesday, 13 October 2026, at 10:00 a.m. EAT.

Answers to clarification questions will be shared with all applicants who have made enquiries, without identifying who asked, to ensure equal treatment.

KECOSCE is an equal opportunity organization committed to safeguarding, inclusion and professional integrity. Applications from women, persons with disabilities and consultants from under-represented groups are particularly encouraged.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
KENYA COMMUNITY SUPPORT CENTRE (KECOSCE)
Pembeni Road, Nyali
P.O. Box 42944–80100, Mombasa, Kenya
Telephone: 0716 777230 / 020 2435408
Website: www.kecosce.org
Email: [email protected]